The Monty Hall Problem: The Remarkable Story of Math's Most Contentious Brain Teaser

By Jason Rosenhouse

Book Overview

Mathematicians call it the Monty Hall Problem, and it is one of the most interesting mathematical brain teasers of recent times. Imagine that you face three doors, behind one of which is a prize. You choose one but do not open it. The host--call him Monty Hall--opens a different door, always choosing one he knows to be empty. Left with two doors, will you do better by sticking with your first choice, or by switching to the other remaining door? In this light-hearted yet ultimately serious book, Jason Rosenhouse explores the history of this fascinating puzzle. Using a minimum of mathematics (and none at all for much of the book), he shows how the problem has fascinated philosophers, psychologists, and many others, and examines the many variations that have appeared over the years. As Rosenhouse demonstrates, the Monty Hall Problem illuminates fundamental mathematical issues and has abiding philosophical implications. Perhaps most important, he writes, the problem opens a window on our cognitive difficulties in reasoning about uncertainty.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195367898
• ISBN13: 9780195367898
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

A Detailed Analysis of an Intriguing Brain Teaser

Believe it or not, this entire book is on the Monty Hall problem! The author, a mathematics professor, has analyzed this fascinating brain teaser from a variety of angles. After discussing the problem's history, he presents various attempts that have been made to understand it. The earlier attempts, including those by Marilyn vos Savant, tend to focus on logical arguments in order to arrive at the correct solution. But in...

A lively review of basic math problems and philosophy alike

THE MONTY HALL PROBLEM: THE REMARKABLE STORY OF MATH'S MOST CONTENTIOUS BRAIN TEASER follows one of the most interesting mathematical brain teasers of modern times, and uses a surprising minimum of math concepts in the process. Any interested in puzzle challenges - which ranges from college-level libraries strong in math to general-interest holdings - will find this a lively review of basic math problems and philosophy alike...

Rosenhouse could have reached for the AK 47 but instead he wrote a book!

Jason Rosenhouse has written what is a witty and informative book on the remarkable Monty Hall problem. Never has such a simply stated problem caused so much anger, confusion and irritation but so little understanding. Anyone who knows the problem will have gone through all the phases so amusingly described by Rosenhouse - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The problem is named "the Monty Hall problem"...

An Important Problem

The "Monty Hall Problem" by Jason Rosenhouse is currently the best coverage of this important problem. He covers the version of the problem as it was made famous in Parade by vos Savant, and also it numerous variations and generalizations, its history, its occurrence in various fields (psychology, philosophy, quantum theory), and he gives a rather extensive bibliography which will be of great use to the serious student...

Don't Stick! Switch! And Why There Is a Difference

If you are old enough, you remember the sensation that the Rubik's Cube caused all the world over in 1980. No one is still alive that remembers the 1880 fad for the analogous two-dimensional "Fifteen Puzzle", which had fifteen numbered blocks within a four by four container and you were supposed to arrange them numerically. Mechanical puzzles can make storms like these, maybe because you can solve them over and over again,...